The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

Udet had become fixated with the idea of the dive-bomber during a trip
to the United States in 1933. There, the aircraft designer Glenn Curtiss had
developed his Hawk, a dive-bombing biplane that Udet had even been
allowed to fly himself and then take two back to Germany. And, back
home, Udet soon convinced his old friend Göring of the dive-bomber’s
merit. The result was the development of the Junkers 87.
There is no doubt that, to a cavalier like Udet, dive-bombing, which
required daring, skill and panache, was far more appealing than a fleet of
bombers flying horizontally and releasing bombs from high altitude. But
there were also sound reasons for backing the dive-bomber. No adequate
bombsight had been developed, and German radar was very much in its
infancy, making high-altitude bombing seem a costly and ineffective
method of bombing. It was therefore surely much better to destroy a target
with one accurately placed bomb than to paste an area with lots of bombs
dropped haphazardly. And in addition to being a more accurate means of
bombing, it was also more economical: the more accurate the bombing, the
fewer bombs and aircraft would be needed.
Early trials with the Ju 87 had been hugely encouraging and led to what
can only be described as an obsession amongst the General Staff for divebombing.
Jeschonnek, in particular, along with Udet, became a confirmed
proponent and they now insisted that the Ju 88, currently being developed
as a fast, long-range, highly diverse bomber, also be given dive-bombing
capabilities. After a lot of teeth-sucking, Junkers agreed that this would be
possible, but in being adapted to these new requirements it changed
fundamentally, putting on massive weight and losing speed. And it took
time. Redeveloping an aircraft into something quite different was no easy
task, but it was why the bomber that was supposed to be the mainstay of the
Luftwaffe was barely ready by the beginning of 1940. It was why the
Luftwaffe now, in the summer of 1940, was mostly using older Dornier 17s
and Heinkel 111s travelling at speeds of 160 mph. The Junkers 88
prototypes had flown at 320 mph carrying 2,000 kg loads. That was faster
than a Hurricane. The whole point of the Ju 88 had been to have an aircraft
superior to any other of its kind. Yet having completely ruined this exciting,
modern new medium-bomber, Udet and Jeschonnek next decided the He
177 heavy bomber should have dive-bombing capabilities too. It was this
new specification that led Heinkel to try combining two engines, tandemfashion,
to drive one propeller, instead of sticking with the more stable